Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo testifies before Congress about COVID nursing home deaths
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo testified before Congress about his administration's handling of the COVID pandemic.
Cuomo previously testified in a private hearing back on June 11.
A Republican-led House committee accuses Cuomo of sending thousands of New York seniors to their deaths and then trying to cover it up.
Even before Cuomo's testimony, the committee announced a subpoena against Gov. Kathy Hochul demanding she hand over documents related to the Cuomo administration, saying she has not been cooperative with its investigation. Hochul's spokesperson said the administration was surprised by the announcement, since it has cooperated with the committee and handed over thousands of documents.
Cuomo testifies
Cuomo testified before Congress on accusations his administration sent thousands of New York seniors to their deaths and then tried to cover it up.
"You are culpable for this. My question is when were you negotiating for your multi-million dollar advance for your book deal while seniors were dying in nursing homes?" Rep. Elise Stefanik asked.
"You can't just make up facts, congresswoman," Cuomo said.
"You're the one making up facts. You're the one who undercounted nursing home deaths. There are families sitting here. I want you to turn around right now and apologize to them, which you have failed to do," Stefanik said.
Cuomo said New York was following federal guidelines.
"It was actually the Trump administration - the CMS and CDC - that first said in March 2020 that COVID+ people could go from hospitals to nursing homes. That was your ruling," Cuomo said.
The committee alleges that Cuomo underreported the number of nursing home deaths and ordered an unscientific report, concluding that Cuomo's "must admit" order had little impact on nursing home fatalities.
Cuomo was asked if he directed his staff to make the number of nursing home deaths lower than they were.
"No. We said these are the deaths without the 'out of facility' death numbers, which we will add when they're accurate, which will reduce the hospital death number, but the total number of deaths stays the same. It was an allocation question," Cuomo said.
He again pointed the finger at the federal government.
"There was no preparation, testing, no PPE, no masks, no science, no leadership. As one Republican governor said about Trump, the general was missing in action, leaving states in a bidding war for PPE. It was the COVID 'Hunger Games,'" Cuomo said.
Families demand accountability
Two women who lost parents weeks after Cuomo's "must admit" order in 2020 forced COVID patients into state nursing homes drove down to watch Cuomo's testimony in person, and say he must be held accountable.
"He was larger than life," Tracey Alvono said.
Daniel Alvino - her father - was a grandfather, a Vietnam War veteran, and one of 15,000 New York nursing home patients who died of COVID after that "must admit" order requiring nursing homes to accept COVID+ patients. He was undergoing in-patient rehab after a simple surgery when the order past.
"He called us and said if we didn't get him out of there, he was going to die. There were people coughing, ambulances coming and going, and he was scared," Tracey Alvino said.
The next day, he was Daniel Alvino, was hospitalized with COVD. He died days later.
"It it going to be hard sitting feet away from the man I blame for killing my father and thousands of other people? Absolutely. Is it going to be hard to listen to him twist and spin the truth? One hundred percent. But I have to be there to see it for the families that can't go. I have to be a voice for the 15,000 people who no longer have a voice because of all his grotesque decisions," Tracey Alvino said.
Vivian Zaya's mother was undergoing in-patient rehab at a Long Island nursing home, and died two weeks after Cuomo's order was enacted.
"When we went forward with her knee surgery we totally expected her to recover, that she'd be back home in her kitchen. When she passed away, it more than blindsided us. It destroyed us," Zaya said. "I remember when my mother passed away, we swore we'd get accountability for her. We didn't know at the time it was thousands of seniors."
Bombshell report blasts Cuomo's alleged coverup
Ahead of Tuesday's hearing, the House subcommittee released a bombshell report, accusing Cuomo of making false statements to cover up the number of deaths.
As 15,000 seniors died from COVID in New York nursing homes in 2020, there was mounting criticism of a March 25 directive that was issued by his administration. It ordered, in part, "no resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the [nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID 19."
The 48-page report says Cuomo told a reporter on March 10, 2020, that coronavirus in nursing homes was a "nightmare" scenario, and told former President Donald Trump's administration, "This could be like fire through dry grass." Yet, he still issued the deadly directive statewide.
"The former governor and his staff used alternating methodologies throughout the pandemic to account for nursing home fatalities," the report says.
It also cites testimony from ex-Cuomo policy advisor Jim Malatras, who said Cuomo and Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa would edit reports.
A Cuomo spokesperson responded, in part, "What the report does confirm...is that out-of-facility nursing home tabulations were initially withheld due to legitimate concerns over accuracy...The report also, for the first time, admits that it was the federal government -- not state governments -- that first decided COVID-positive people can and should be sent from hospitals to nursing homes."
The spokesperson added the report is designed to distract from Trump's "failed pandemic leadership."
Meanwhile, the lawmakers say the state of New York is still withholding documents that are vital to their investigation and could shape future legislation to make sure a tragedy like this never happens again.